


This Could Be the End of Everything

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 13:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6755143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The archdemon has been slain, but Zevan is more concerned about the small body lying beside the beast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Could Be the End of Everything

Everyone is cheering as the archdemon falls, but Zevran only has eyes for the small body lying beside it.  He had been forced to watch as Sereda collapsed after attacking the archdemon singlehanded, surrounded by an unnatural light.  How like her, to run headfirst at the largest enemy in sight and have something completely unexpected happen.  

When the unnatural light has faded, however, nothing can stop Zevran from running to her and dropping to his knees.  The cheering surrounding them is hollow and mocking as he takes in her still form.  Victory at the cost of Sereda’s life barely seems like victory.  He doesn’t even understand what happened to her.

He pulls off her helmet, heart beating painfully hard as he takes in her closed eyes and still face.  There are so many things that he wanted to tell her and so many things he wanted her to experience.  She marveled at the wonders of the surface world and he had been compiling a list of things and places to show her.  His foolishness kept him from what was plainly in front of him for so long, and now it’s gone.

Zevran pulls off his gauntlet to touch her, wanting to feel her warmth one last time before it fades away forever.  

It puts any physical pain to shame, this new and gaping space in his chest where she used to live.  Sereda had burrowed her way into his heart, into the very fabric of his being in a way he didn’t know was even possible.  This is what steeling himself to sentiment was supposed to prevent.  

Part of him wants to rage: how dare she tear down every defense he built for himself and then leave him like this?  How dare she fill him full of love and then go?  He can’t even wish for death to take him, like he did when he met her, because he knows that that’s not what Sereda would want for him.

But despite the pain he feels now, Zevran knows he would fall in love with her all over again, given the choice.  The chance to be with her, however briefly, was worth anything, even if he feels this empty sort of pain for the rest of his life.  The man he was at the start of all this would scoff at such a fanciful statement, but it’s true.  

So he doesn’t rage, doesn’t scream in frustration.  Instead, Zevran presses his palm to Sereda’s cheek gently.  She’s still blessedly warm, and he’s ready to sit there with her until she’s cold.  Let anyone try to drag him away.

Then, there’s a faint pressure against his hand, so soft that he thinks he’s making it up.  His mind could create a fantasy of what he wants more than anything.  But when he sees lightning green eyes looking up at him, Zevran realizes that this might be a victory after all.  

“I have to fight the archdemon,” Sereda says, voice cracking.  She struggles against him, trying to get up.  “End the Blight.”

“Sereda, you have won,” Zevran says, heart pounding against his ribcage.  “The archdemon is dead.  You killed it.”

“Are we dead?” Sereda asks, brow furrowed and laying limp.

“No, no, Sereda, we are very much alive,” Zevran says breathlessly.  

The cheers surrounding them suddenly seem so much sweeter.  Sereda is alive, he’s alive, and now they can have a life together.  His life is going to be fuller than he ever could have anticipated, and it’s enough to overwhelm him.

“You’re crying,” Sereda says.  She brushes at his tears with a shaking hand, metal scraping against his cheek.  “Are you okay?”

Zevran grins, blinking away the tears.  “I am incredibly happy.  Happier than I have ever imagined being.”

“Good,” Sereda says.  

She sits up, moving slowly, but without taking her eyes off of his face.  He can read the confusion written there, like she doesn’t understand the cheering surrounding them.  Or maybe she just doesn’t care.

“I thought for a terrible moment that you were…” Zevran can’t finish the sentence.  

“Nah,” Sereda says.  “It takes more than an archdemon to kill me.”

Sereda smiles, but there’s a tightness there.  He gets the sense that there’s something else going on, some secret (or maybe more than one) that she’s kept from him.  Maybe one day, he’ll ask, but today all he wants is to be happy that they’ll have their future together.  

She takes off her gauntlets and cups his face.  Her touch is so careful, like she’s worried this is all an illusion, but she still sends tingles down his spine. 

Zevran closes the space between them, pressing his lips against hers.  His kiss seems to awaken something in Sereda because the hands cupping his face suddenly hold him tight.  She kisses him with a fierce desperation that he matches easily.  The fingers digging into his cheeks are a comfort, a reminder that the woman he loves is still alive.  

When they finally part, they’re both breathing heavily and still so close that he can feel the heat from her breath against his lips.  He runs his gaze over her face to banish the sight of her lying still on the ground.

Sereda watches his lips, swallowing hard.  He can still feel her pressed against him, and he never wants to forget this feeling.  

“I love you.”  Her gaze flickers up to meet his as she brushes her thumbs over his cheekbones.  “More than I know how to express.  I know you know, but I just… had to tell you, Zevran.  After today, I had to say it.”

“I love you, too.  Never doubt it,” Zevran says.

“I never would,” Sereda says, blinking hard.

Zevran smiles as Sereda pulls him into a tight embrace, burying her face in the crook of his neck.  

“Let’s never do that again,” Sereda murmurs into his neck.  “No more archdemons.”

Zevran chuckles as best he’s able- her grip is quite tight and he’s still in shock- stroking her hair as she shakes against him.  “Never, ever again, my dearest Sereda.”

**Author's Note:**

> From a prompt list! "A relieved kiss"


End file.
